Wednesday, March 3, 2010

A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Lies

This is hilarious. Lew Rockwell sends along the Cleveland Fed's latest video in its, "Really bad drawings, real simple explanation" series (check the link if you think I'm making up the title). It's 9 minutes long so maybe that's too much for you, but at least watch it through 3:55 to see the graph of how the Fed maintains a stable purchasing power of the dollar from 1 - 10 years out.

If someone has a lot of free time on his or her hands, it would be hilarious to do a parody of this, explaining how the CIA works.

In closing, I must say that the tone of this video intrigues me. You get the sense that the actual Fed staffers know full well they're participating in something shady. For example listen in the beginning when they introduce Ben Bernanke, or at the very end when they say, "However you feel about the Fed..."

It's funny how at the very end of the video the commentator makes sure he alerts you that before the Fed many banks failed, while neglecting to mention how many have failed with the Fed.

Forgive me as I am a neophyte when it comes to money and banking, but according to the video, banks have a choice as to whether they want to join the Federal Reserve System?? Given the current laws and so forth, how exactly would a bank operate, without being subjected to the rules of the Fed? Would they still be subject to the Fed funds rate...etc?